In May 2024, Microsoft released Power Toys 0.81, a major update for the fan-favorite set of tools for Windows 10 and 11. The update introduced the AI-powered Advanced Paste feature, which helps users convert the copied text into something else. While the main focus of the tool is on developers, a future update will make Advanced Paste much more useful for other users.
With the upcoming update, PowerToys Advanced Paste will let you transcode media files to different formats. For example, convert an audio or video file into an mp3 file or convert a video into an mp4 (H.264/AAC) while preserving bitrate, video dimensions, metadata, and more. The upgrade was announced by Clint Rutkas on X:
when you got a idea and the team goes "hold my beer". https://t.co/F8nbwAMmYI
— Clint Rutkas (@ClintRutkas) January 31, 2025
in pr now: https://t.co/p1Nhse83i2 pic.twitter.com/zrclidzjAD
In addition to media file support, a future Advanced Paste update will make it possible to abort actions, which is extra useful for long-running tasks. Also, the UI will display the progress of the current task so you can better understand how long it will take to complete.
According to the pull request on GitHub, the updated Advanced Paste module should make it to the next PowerToys update, version 0.89, which should arrive later in February (Microsoft usually ships one major PowerToys update per month).
Besides Advanced Paste, Microsoft is working on a big update for the Run launcher. In late December 2024, Microsoft announced PowerToys Run v2 with a revamped user interface, a reworked extension model with the ability for extensions to pick their render surface for a better user experience, and other community-driven changes.
While Microsoft prepares all these neat features and upgrades, you can check out the details about the latest PowerToys update, 0.88, in our dedicated coverage.
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